BULLETIN DE L'INSTITUT ROYAL DES SCIENCES NATURELLES DE BELGIQUE, ENTOMOLOGIE, 62: 75-82, 1992 BULLETIN VAN HET KONINKLIJK BELGISCH INSTITUUT VOOR NATUURWETENSCHAPPEN, ENTOMOLOGIE, 62: 75-82, 1992 Definition of the spider genus Talavera (Araneae, Salticidae), with a description of a new species by Dmitri V. LOGUNOV Abstract Definition: Small spiders ranging from about 2.5 to 3 mm in length. The spider genus Talavera PECKHAM & PECKHAM is defined. Sexual dimorphism not marked; the only differences bet­ Morphological characters of copulatory organs and relation­ ween males and females are the dark-brown prolateral ships of Talavera are discussed. Four new combinations sides of femur, patella and tibia of the leg I in males. (Talavera aequipes, Talavera thorelli, Talavera monticola and Carapace: moderately high (fig. 8); brownish with black Talavera trivittata) are proposed; and new species, Talavera eye-field, covered with pale adpressed hairs; fovea esyunini, from the Urals is figured and described. absent; eye-field of transverse-rectangular, with its lengt Keywords: Araneae, Salticidae, taxonomy. 1.5-1.7 times smaller than width. Eyes: AME>ALE> PLE > PME. Clypeus: vertical, low; its height half AME­ Introduction diameter in males, 3-4 times as small in females. Chelicerae: vertical, small; promargin with 2 teeth, The spider genus Talavera PECKHAMS & PECKHAMS, retromargin with 1 tooth. Maxillae: tranverse, almost 1909 belongs to the subfamily Euophrydinae (sensu PR6- square. Labium: small, three-cornered, apex rounded and SZYNSKI, 1976). Up to now it included only the type directed anteriorly. Sternum: oval. Abdomen: oval; species, Talavera minuta (BANKS, 1895), which occurs in length 1.5-2 times width; grey with dorsal markings com­ the USA and Canada (RICHMAN, CUTLER, 1978) and in posed of yellowish thin transverse lines or some the Magadan Area of the USSR (MARUSIK, 1988). longitudinal greyish-brown stripes (as in T. trivittata, see In this paper, 6 species are included in the genus Talavera, PAIK, 1986, figs. 1-2), covered with whitish hairs; males of which one is new to science. Four others were originally have, an inconspicuous scutum covering almost all the described in the genus Euophrys C.L. KOCH, 1834. The dorsal surface of abdomen. Legs: moderately short; genus Euophrys (s. str.), i.e. the "frontalis" species group yellowish with numerous brown rings; leg formula IV, only, is here interpreted as the sister group of Talavera. III, I, II or IV, I, III, II. Female palp: without apical The standard abbreviations and the names of parts of claws. Male palp: cymbium simple; tibia without the copulatory organs used in this paper are those used apophysis (figs. 11, 14, 34); embolus with well-developed by GRISWOLD (1987), WANLESS (1988) and DAVIES & distal haematodocha (figs. 9-14); tegulum with distal ZABKA (1989), and for the leg spination the system sclerite which forms a flat (figs. 10, 13, 24) or rounded adopted is that used by ONo (1988). All measurements (fig. 34) convexity on the distal part of tegulum (func­ are in mm. tion of this sclerite unknown); trajectory of sperm ducts The type material has been shared between the collections complex (figs. 1-4); embolus straight or a little curved of the Zoological Museum of the Moscow State Univer­ (figs. 10-13); embolus connected to tegulum by a solid sity, Moscow (ZMMU); Zoological Museum of the chitinouse ligament (figs. 25-27, 33). Epigynum: generally Institute of Biology, Novosibirsk (BI); Dept. of Zoology simple, weakly sclerotized with internal structures usually of the Perm State University, Perm (PSU); and the Royal visible through the integument; copulatory openings very Belgian Institute for Natural Science (RINS). small, paired, covered with either paired rounded lids (fig. 15), or a single transverse chitinous fold (fig. 18); Genus Talavera PECKHAM & PECKHAM, 1909 insemination ducts very thin, thread-like; spermathecae large, ovoid with lanceolate fertilisation ducts (figs. 16, Type species: Talavera minuta (BANKS, 1895) 17, 21). 76 Dmitri V. LOGUNOV Affinities: The fact that the species E. petrensis is difficult to refer The genus Talavera PECKHAN & PECKHAM is here to Euophrys or Talavera reflects the affinity between defined to include those species with the following uni­ these genera. For instance, E. petrensis shares with quely shared characters: embolus straight or slightly Talavera the complex trajectori of sperm ducts (fig. 5) curved (figs. 10, 13, 27); trajectory of sperm ducts com­ and lack of a tibial apophysis in males, but retains plex (figs. 1-4); distal sclerite present (figs. 10, 13, 24); chitinous "rings" in the epigynum (fig. 19) and twisted solid chitinous ligament of embolus present (figs. 24-27, insemination ducts (fig. 20) in females that indicate its 34); insemination ducts thin, thread-like, without a spiral similarity with Euophrys. Besides that, E. petrensis shows twisting (fig. 16). These characters appear to be good clear sexual dimorphism, as in all true Euophrys. It is synapomorphies for the members of Talavera. possible that E. petrensis may be referred to the genus The genus Euophrys (s. str.), as I understand it, seems Talavera, but I delay accepting it until the whole genus to be a sister group of the genus Talavera. Euophrys Euophrys (s. lat.) is revised, especially as there are other (sensu stricto)* shares the following characters: very thin species of Euophrys without a tibial apophysis, for tibial apophysis (fig. 29: E. proszynskii LOG et al.) and instance, E. gambosa. coiled embolus in males; spiral twisted insemination ducts It is necessary to comment on the solid chitinous liga­ in females (fig. 20). Besides that, Euophrys shows a ment in particular. This sclerotized ligament is a rigid rod, strongly pronounced sexual dimorphism, which has never situated within the wall of the distal haematodocha, been observed in Talavera. which joins the embolus directly to the distal end of the tegulum. Because of this solid ligament, the distal haematodocha is expanded during palp inflation without . spiral twisting and protrudes t o one side as a slightly curved, translucent sac (figs. 24, 25). This shape of expanded distal haematodocha is typical of the species having a straight (T. minuta) or almost straight (T. esyunini, T. thorellr) embolus. All species of the genus Euophrys (s. str.) lack such a solid ligament and have a coiled embolus joined to the tegulum only by a haematodocha. In this group the retrolateral side of the distal haematodocha is only slightly sclerotized and morphologically more complex than in the genus Talavera. It consists of a number of thin tranverse chitinous ridges displaced relative to each other (fig. 31). Due to the structure of the membranous wall, the com­ J pletely expanded distal haematodocha appears spiral, like a Helix-shell, for instance in E. flavoatra (GR.) and E. proszynskii LOG. et al. (figs. 28-30). The solid ligament is slightly sclerotized in T. aequipes, because its expanded distal haematodocha has an iden­ tical shape to that in Euophrys, i.e. a ''spiral shell'' (fig. 32). This is not a serios argument against including T. aequipes in the genus Talavera, since all the remaining 4 5 characters, such as the complex trajectory of the sperm ducts (fig. 4); the presence of distal sclerite (bump like) (fig. 34); and the vulva structure (fig. 21), are evidence of our conclusion. The type of inflation of the distal haematodocha is most probably dependant on the shape of the embolus, and reflects some functional pecularuties 8 (*) The genus Euophrys (s. lat.) as currently defined (GALIANO, 1962, 1968; PR6SZYNSKI, 1976; ZABKA, 1985) Figs. 1-8 - Schematic drawings of the trajectory of sperm undoubtedly is a paraphyletic taxon. I suggest that at least the duct (l-7) and carapace of male (8). members of the "erratica" species group (erratica, iwatensis, 1. Talavera min uta; 2, 8. Talavera esyunini; obsoleta, lanigera and others) and many South-American species 3. Talavera thorelli; 4. Talavera aequipes; (a-notata, laetata, tehuelche, mapuche and others) should to 5. Euoph1ys petrensis; 6. Euophrys frontalis; be transfered from Euophrys (s. str.). The genus Euophrys (s. 7. Euophrys monadnock. The last two species str.) should probably be limited to the "frontalis" species group have a simpler sperm duct trajectory than those only. A full consideration of this problem is beyond the scope of the members of Talavera. of the present study and will be addressed later. Definition of the spider genus Talavera (Araneae, Salticidae) 77 ps : [o.1 12 .. ,10 0 • • • • . ' . 15 · .... · ..... 16 s Figs. 9-17 - Copulatory organs of Talavera minuta (9-11) and Talavera esyunini (12-17), male-holotype, female-paratype. 9, 12 - left palp, prolateral view; 10, 13 - ditto, ventral view; 11 , 14- ditto, retrolateral view; 15 - epigynum; 16- vulva, ventral view; 17- spermathecae, lateral view. Abbreviations: e - embolus, t- tegulum, ds- distal sclerite, dh - distal haematodocha, rl - rounded lids of epigynum, id - insemination ducts, s - spermathecae. 78 Dmitri V. LOGUNOV 0 ' 0 0 0 , , ·.: :_ ·. .' .· .' : .; ·. : :- :. :: .' ~.-.·. _F .::,:. .. ' . ' . 20 19 18 TD 21 22 23 Figs. 18-23 - Female copulatory organs of Talavera and Euophrys. 18- Talavera thorelli, epigynum, ventral view; 19-20- Euophrys petrensis, epigynum ventral view; and spermathecae, lateral view; 21 - Talavera aequipes, vulva, ventral view; 22, 23 - Euophrys frontalis, vulva, ventral and lateral views. Abbreviations: f- chitinous fold of epigynum, td - twisted insemination duct. of the palp during mating. If so, the spiral form of the Remarks: expanded distal haematodocha in T. aequipes is a good Based on genitalic characteristics (complex trajectory of example of homoplasy between Talavera and Euophrys. sperm ducts, straight embolus and others) it appears to T. aequipes, as well as E. petrensis, seems to occupy an be necessary to transfer to Talavera two european species intermediate position between Talavera and Euophrys, that had previously placed in Euophrys. These are E. probably reflecting the close affinity of these genera.